[via PDK] My gut agrees with my bankers. They say it could be any moment between now and Dec 1st. That is the latest from the banking side of it. I hope and pray they are right...This “Any moment” alert sure fits with what we are hearing from Iraq. The WTO, UN, banks and Reno.
I have had more banking confirmations ...saying that all we are waiting for is a “GO” and any final instructions for anything that may have changed last minute .
I talked to some banking sources…and it is overwhelming the banks saying we are at “any moment” and a number of them are saying it’s this week. The sheer number of bank sources from different banks (3 regional banks and 4 major banks) that were told to get ready for any moment this week...Whether it is this week or not - the chatter is sure great.
SUDANESE ADVISOR: THE WHITE HOUSE WILL MAKE A DECISION REGARDING IRAQ’S FUNDS IN THE FEDERAL BANK
(To summarize, this article sounds to me like Iraq wants their money out of the US banks and to allow them to use it as they please. Oh…this now sounds like a democracy, gee whiz! )
The Prime Minister’s Advisor for Financial Affairs, Mazhar Muhammad Salih, confirmed on Tuesday that the White House will renew the Federal Bank’s authorization to deposit Iraq’s funds from oil exports next March, despite the fact that the Iraqi balances in the Federal Bank will be frozen.
Saleh said, in an interview with the Maalouma Agency, that “the reserves of the Central Bank of Iraq have been subject to the diversification rule since 2006, and represent the investment portfolio of the monetary authority.”
He added, “These reserves vary, according to the international standard investment guides for reserves issued by the International Monetary Fund, between various currencies such as the euro, monetary gold, the pound sterling, the Chinese yuan, and the Japanese yen, in addition to the US dollar.”
The Sud”nese financial advisor explained, “These currencies are in different proportions, and according to the weight of the foreign currency in Iraq’s foreign trade,” stressing, “There is no objection to intensifying diversification into other currencies in addition to the dollar, which essentially represents the currency of oil revenues.”
He continued his speech, saying: “Based on Security Council Resolution 1483 issued in May 2003, the principle of accumulating oil revenues in an account for oil receipts at a global bank was approved, and the Federal Reserve Bank in New York was chosen for this purpose.”
Saleh stated, “This account was used to collect Kuwait war compensation amounting to 5%, and it was taken from the revenue from the export of every single barrel of oil or any products, if any,” adding, “The oil receipts account and the reserve account in dollars are still subject to protection according to the White House presidential order.” Which is renewed annually every year in the month of May.
He stressed, “Most of the issue relates to the aforementioned UN Security Council resolution regarding the oil receipts account opened in dollars at the Federal Reserve Bank.”
During the current period, America has worked to destroy the Iraqi currency by imposing sanctions on Iraqi banks and banning the dollar under many pretexts, which in one way or another led to a severe financial crisis in the Iraqi markets.
(I told all my readers a long time ago that because they have taken so long to de-dollarize it will be hard to change the mindset and black market devices to sell the dollar and make money. So change is hard but the US govt is finally stepping in this year to make the necessary changes. We can clearly see that Iraq could not have RV’d so many times with all the stupid claims by these intel gurus. Still even now they persist it going to happen this week or next weekend. Idiots…all of them!)
ECONOMIST: IT IS NOT POSSIBLE TO MINT AN IRAQI COIN CURRENTLY, AND INFLATION IS A THOUSAND TIMES HIGH
The economic expert, Abdul Rahman Al-Sheikhli, ruled out minting an Iraqi coin at the present time due to the high inflation of the dinar by 1,000 digits.
Al-Sheikhli said: For the program {Free Speech} broadcast by Al-Furat satellite channel this evening, it was said: “The issue of importing the dollar is not new. It was approved in 2010 by a measure by the Central Bank, and the new decision came at the request of merchants to cover the needs of the local market.”
He added, “The dollar in banking offices is either legitimate or through acquisition, and cash is sold to travelers, students, and patients abroad. The reality of the situation requires the presence of another source to provide the currency, and the Central Bank has obliged the import of the dollar exclusively through airports.”
Al-Sheikhly stressed that “the central bank will not be an intermediary in importing the dollar, but rather the banks that have relations with foreign banks and rely on their stock of the dollar.”
He also stated, “The political influence is very great on the economic process, which hinders its flexibility, and the entry of the imported dollar will be a competitive factor in the Iraqi street for the black and will have a very significant impact on reducing the price of the currency.”
Al-Sheikhli pointed out, “The most important factor in the fluctuation of the dollar is supply and demand, and the rise of the dollar and oil on balance contributed to raising the currency in the local market,” adding, “The US Federal Reserve does not delay remittances, but it audits them, and international standards for money laundering and supporting terrorism delay some attempts.”
He added, “Some banks operate in unprofessional ways, which led citizens to hoard currency and the need to restore confidence between the citizen and the banking system. The Prime Minister agreed with the Minister of Commerce to import materials at the official price and sell them at a discount.”
Al-Sheikhli added, “Iraq has inflation in the dinar, which is more than 1,000 and it is not possible to print coins at the present time. The Iraqi citizen must be educated to use the Visa card in his transactions.”
While he noted that “the Ministry of Finance’s intervention in raising the price of the dollar created a major problem,” calling on the Central Bank to “use its full independence and powers to control the price of the dollar, as the Central Bank is still deficient in resolving some of the existing problems,” concluding, “The American Federal Reserve has no authority over the Central Bank of Iraq.” Rather, it issues recommendations regarding violations.
Did you hear the recent news in Iraq? The speaker of the house Muhammad al-Halbousi, today, Tuesday was ousted from his speaker position and now they have to select another speaker. Does this parallel to the U.S. politics sound familiar? Does it sound weird? Can you see God’s Hand at work here? The prophets told us the corrupt will be unseated, everything that can be shaken will be shaken. Even the Iraqi people see this as kind of “strange”.
I quote from today’s article – “Speaker of the House of Representatives, Muhammad al-Halbousi, today, Tuesday, considered the Federal Supreme Court’s decision to terminate his membership in the Council “strange,””.
I have to say this is the most obvious since the US House of Congress also just ousted the house speaker Kevin McCarthy and replaced him with Mike Johnson.
Still don’t believe me that there are parallels going on between these two countries to clean up the corruption? Still don’t believe me that this corruption must be dealt with in order for us to see the RV we want? Think about all the corruption just since last January and the changes made in dealing with the dollar.
I quote from a couple very recent articles – “The National Security Agency announced on Wednesday the arrest of one of the “most dangerous” speculators and smugglers of tens of millions of dollars a day”. Then last week there was this article and I quote – “Economist Nabil Al-Marsoumi spoke today, Wednesday (November 15, 2023), about the routes and methods of smuggling oil and its derivatives from Kurdistan to Iran and Turkey.”
Wednesday intel call to my contact at the CBI:
Okay, so I had my normal Wednesday call to Iraq. I wanted to come to you today also to fill everyone in on what was said-
I was told there was a TV media output broadcast that told the citizens the official rate of the dinar would be over $1 in the coming days. Thy used the PM Al-Sudani in a speech like format to explain most of it. I was promised a video of the speech and so I wait for it. This was part of the committee team work to set all this up. This is part of the education process. So, it did begin. It is mid-November as they previously told us it would.
I don’t know exactly what “coming days” means and so I asked. I was told that the process of the revaluation is now in motion and they expect to begin issuing the newer lower denominations to the banks in exchange for the larger 3 zero notes they have collected in accounts very soon. Also, when they do distribute the lower denominations to the public for circulation, they will start at the airports first so anyone coming into Iraq can exchange whatever foreign currency they do have for Iraq dinars and vice versa, as they are only going to use dinars exclusively as of January 1st, 2024 in Iraq. This is also why they needed and allowed to let the banks now hold other foreign currencies besides dollars.
For example:
If you are visiting Iraq coming from Venezuela why would you need Bolivar in Iraq if merchants and hotels in Iraq only take Dinars? So, you would not. You would exchange your Bolivars for Dinars just like you would do in any other country either before your trip, at the airport when you arrive, or you find a bank when you arrive. Welcome Iraq to the real world….at last!!!! Lol..lol..lol..
For example:
I visit family in the U.S. and have made many trips back to America from Germany, as I only married a German man but I am American. We use the Euro in Germany, but when I take trip to America, I know I will need US dollars since dollars is what merchants take in America. Why would I take Euros to use in the U.S. since no one wants them or will take them. So, I either exchange my Euros for U.S. Dollars at Deutsche Bank in Germany prior to my trip to the US or at a U.S. airport when I arrive or also sometimes just take out cash dollars using an ATM once in the US by using my international VISA card.
So, knowing all this, Iraq is just moving now to standard protocol in money exchanging. This is such fantastic news. As of January 2024 there will be no more program rate. Get it? There will be no more dollars taken by any merchant in Iraq.
But what is the timing of the switchover, I asked?
First let me say it is not going to be a sudden switchover all at once, as many of us anticipated. I was told it would be more gradual and has already begun. So, there is no turning back. They would not give me a target but just said in the ‘coming days” again to me. They said it would be gradual and fan out from the airports. This made total sense to me, so I didn’t question it. But it was a little different then I imagined.
It seemed my contact in the CBI was bragging about the final steps and paperwork for the full membership of Iraq to the World Trade Organization (WTO) and to look for the official announcement this week or sometime next week. But it is completed. I asked if Iraq needs an international rate of the dinar in order for full membership. I was told and I quote from my source – “Iraq needed a tradable international currency”. I asked if this means liberated back on FOREX trading and was told YES! So, We are VERY close! 😊 These two events are converging (WTO and Reinstatement).
Based on this latest conversation with my CBI contact, it could be said that they might be planning to RV prior to January, but personally I do not see it until January but who knows after this conversation. But don’t be fooled by all the final steps they are now taking lining up to the final target of January 2024. They might surprise us before, but I am skeptical. I will tell you I have never received such good information before and I don’t believe my contact would ever lie to me.
So, based on this information the climax in the US politics must also happen this month or very shortly, as the prophets have been talking about now almost daily. Something must break with all the corruption happening there too.
THE OIL AND GAS LAW RETURNS TO THE FOREFRONT… PARLIAMENT SPECULATES ON THE DATE OF ITS LEGISLATION AND DETERMINES THE REASONS FOR ITS DELAY
(and it will continue until this commitment to get it done is completed. )
Today, Sunday (November 12, 2023), the Parliamentary Legal Committee commented on the latest developments in the legislation of the oil and gas law, by the House of Representatives, according to the political agreement between the blocs and parties.
Committee member Arif Al-Hamami told “Baghdad Today” that “legislating the oil and gas law requires the existence of a political agreement on the terms and paragraphs of the law, and this agreement does not currently exist,” pointing out that dialogues are continuing regarding it between the technical and legal committees between the central and regional governments.
Al-Hamami stressed that “there is seriousness on the part of the Iraqi government to legislate the oil and gas law due to its importance in regulating financial and oil relations with the region, but legislating the law requires careful study, and we believe that legislating the law will be the beginning of the new legislative chapter, that is, after the provincial council elections.”
The American Consulate in the Kurdistan Region confirmed on Tuesday (November 7, 2023) that it is following up on the issue of resuming the export of the region’s oil abroad, considering that resolving the disputes resulting from the lack of financial revenues in the region and ratifying the oil and gas law is a priority for it.
The Ministry of Natural Resources in the Kurdistan Regional Government said, “its Minister, Kamal Muhammad, received the new American Consul General in the Kurdistan Region, Mark Straw,” noting that the latter “expressed his country’s readiness to invest in the electricity, energy, and oil sectors.”
Straw said, according to the ministry’s statement, “We are closely following the issue of resuming the export of Kurdistan region’s oil abroad, and we know that stopping exports has had a significant impact on public financial revenues in the region,” noting that “solving the problem of lack of revenues in the region and ratifying the oil and gas law represents a priority.” Regarding Washington’s policies and agenda.”
In turn, the Minister of Natural Resources in the Kurdistan Regional Government, Kamal Muhammad, praised the American role in contributing to solving the problem of the cessation of oil exports in the region abroad and the problems related to the oil and gas law.
THE CENTRAL BANK ACHIEVES ONE OF THE MAIN OBJECTIVES OF MONETARY POLICY IN 2023
Economy News-Baghdad
The objectives of the monetary policy of the Central Bank are to achieve economic growth and stability, and one of its main objectives is to reduce inflation rates and stabilize the prices of goods and services in very complex economic, security and political conditions in 2023 that the world is going through, especially the countries of the geographical region, in which our country is negatively and positively affected.
And that these conditions have been suffered by our economy for decades , and the reason is the rentier economy and the dependence of 93% as a rate of the general budget on oil, which constitutes about 60% of GDP, while the active economic sectors, namely agriculture, constitute 4.7% and industry does not exceed 2%,which are indicators that led to the lack of local production that covers the consumer need of citizens in food and other basic materials, so the dependence was almost entirely on imports for the commercial private sector and from different origins, and successive governments could not control of internal trade and regulation of foreign trade and weak control over illegal trade and informal border crossings, which led to the impact of the monetary and commercial market and the prices of food and necessary materials for citizens at high rates during the years 2021 and 2022, so this indicator was the most prominent challenge that faced monetary policy and directly affected the stability of the exchange rate, which led the Central Bank to take many measures in cooperation with the government in 2023 to regulate foreign trade and control over foreign remittances.
And regularity in the global financial and banking system by developing the electronic platform and working on preparing and launching a new strategy for reform and banking classification in all its basic episodes at the level of internal and external banking transactions, the most prominent of which is securing the US dollar for large and registered traders and for each trader, regardless of his classification at the official price through the platform exclusively, which helped to reduce prices.
This was achieved through the analysis of the annual inflation rate indicators for 2023, which was published by the Central Bank compared to the annual inflation rates for 2022 achieved in Iraq and in regional countries, where it is clear from official data that the annual inflation rate reached 3.7% in 2023 and 4.4% in 2022, and that most other countries with unstable economies reached Inflation rates have very high rates, reaching 80.2% in Turkey, 117.4% in Sudan, 40.0% in Iran, 9.3%, 9.0% and 5.0% respectively in Egypt, and ranged in the Gulf countries with stable economies and rich in oil between (2.4-4.8%).
Maintaining the general level of prices of goods and services is currently working to achieve other goals, which are the stability of the exchange rate and the maintenance of foreign reserves covering the local currency in circulation and imports, which exceeded 100 billion dollars.
Therefore, the economic results and outputs confirm that the policies and measures carried out by the Central Bank this year have achieved an important goal of achieving stability in the monetary system, which is an important step in achieving the other objectives of monetary policy.
